Valerie didn’t get it.
After the intimate conversation in the hallway, she’d thought she made some progress with Logan. But four days had passed, and he’d done nothing but steer clear of her. If anything, now he seemed more distant than before.
Every time she tried to get close enough to talk to him, he dashed away to handle something important. Or so he’d said. Then he would make up some lame excuse as to why it took him so long to return and how he didn’t have a minute to spare for her. It wasn’t the usual reaction she got from men, and the whole situation grated on her last nerve.
When James had asked to cut out early last night, Valerie jumped at the chance to stay late and close up the bar for him. She’d planned to use that opportunity to corner Logan and force him into having another conversation while no one else was around. But Brett had showed up half an hour before closing and her chance to talk to Logan was flushed straight down the drain.
The only good thing that had come from staying late last night for James was that he’d promised to cover part of her shift today in return and had said she could come in late. Even still, she’d arrived early hoping to catch Logan alone and unaware. But that hope disintegrated when she saw him standing behind the bar with James while going over their inventory order.
She still had time to spare before her shift started though. So when she spotted Leah sitting at a small, round table watching Sam and Max shoot pool, she headed in her direction.
As she approached, Leah raised her head and smiled. “Hey, Val. How’s the new job treating you?”
“It’s fine,” Valerie grumbled, plopping into the chair across from her friend.
“Well, that doesn’t sound good. What’s wrong?”
Valerie picked a piece of fuzz off her black slip-style dress. “Nothing. I’m fine. Actually, everything’s fine. Couldn’t be better.”
“Come on, Valerie. I know we’ve both been busy lately, with me working on wedding plans and you working two jobs. But I’ve also known you long enough to know that when you say everything’s fine, then it’s the exact opposite of that. Spill it. What’s going on?”
She sighed. “Nothing. It’s…”
“Fine?” Leah asked with a smirk. Damn, that girl didn’t give up easily. “Don’t you like working here? You seemed to.”
“No, it’s not that. I do like working here. Actually, I love it. More than I ever thought I would.”
Leah cocked her head. “Then is it Logan? How are things going with him?”
“They’re not,” Valerie said with a heavy sigh. “He spends most of his time avoiding me, and even when I do pin him down, he seems aggravated…like I’m bothering him or something. I think it’s pretty much a lost cause.”
“What? It’s not like you to give up so easily on something you want.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve wanted him for years, and it’s gotten me nowhere. I don’t know why I thought things would be different this time around. It’s never been this hard for me to get a guy’s attention before.” She frowned. “I don’t like it.”
Leah grinned. “Now you know how I felt in the past.”
Sam stepped over to take a swig of the beer he’d left on the table next to his fiancée. “Actually, sweetheart, you had my attention from the get-go.” He winked at Leah. “I just didn’t let you in on that little secret until later.”
Leah rolled her eyes. “Well, if you had told me sooner, we could have avoided all that unnecessary drama with my family. I’m pretty sure they thought you needed medication to balance out your crazy mood swings.”
“Unnecessary, my ass,” Sam said with a laugh. “That was just plain fun. In fact, we should do it again sometime. How about at the wedding?”
“Um, no. With the way my diet is going, there’s probably already going to be enough drama with me not fitting into my dress.”
A muscle worked in Sam’s jaw. “Baby, do you really think I give a damn what size your dress is? I’ve seen you naked more times than I can count.” His eyes smoldered in Leah’s direction. “It’s not like you’re going to be wearing it long anyway. The first chance I get to pull it off that beautiful body of yours, I’m taking it. Count on it.”
Leah grinned. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind.” She waved him away from the table. “Now go play with Max and leave us girls alone to talk.”
Sam leaned in, brushing his lips over Leah’s. “Fine. But later tonight, I get my alone time with you…and I guarantee we won’t be doing much talking.” Then he kissed her again, letting his mouth linger over hers for much longer than was polite.
“Get a room,” Max hollered, standing there with a pool stick in his hands.
Sam lifted his head and wiped the corner of his mouth. “What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?” He grinned at his woman and then crossed to the other side of the pool table to take his next shot.
A blush crept into Leah’s cheeks. “Um, so what were we talking about?”
Valerie giggled. It was adorable that Sam could still fluster her like that. “Logan…and how uninterested he apparently is in me. Unlike your man.”
Leah giggled. “Sam’s interested in you?”
“What?” Valerie sat back and slapped a palm over her face. “Oh, God no. That’s not what I meant. I was talking about you. He’s definitely interested in you. Not me.”
“I was just playing. I knew what you meant.” Leah reached across the table and placed her hand on Valerie’s. “You really need to calm down. He’s got you so wound up that you are absolutely freaking out.”
“Who? Sam?”
“See what I mean? You can’t even follow the conversation. Just breathe already.” Leah waited while Valerie took a calming breath. “Okay, now let’s think about this rationally. Men normally flock to you so what’s Logan’s problem? Why would he not be interested?”
“Beats the hell out of me. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I’ve never had this happen before. At least not with other guys.”
“Are you sure he’s not gay?”
Valerie laughed. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”
“Did it work?”
“Well, yeah. But I don’t think he’s gay. Otherwise he’s so damn deep in that closet that he’ll probably never find his way out.”
Leah glanced over Valerie’s left shoulder and furrowed her brow. “Um, does he have a girlfriend then?”
Well, that was something she hadn’t even considered. Especially since he’d just moved back into town a few weeks ago. Then again, he had said a woman showed up at his place. “Not that I’m aware of. Why?”
Nodding toward the bar, Leah said, “Because there’s a woman over there talking to him with her arms around his neck.”
Valerie rotated in her seat to get a look and cringed. “Damn, I know her. She lives in the next town over, but she ordered a cake from me last month for her mom’s birthday. That’s Shirley Peterson.”
“I take it that’s a bad thing?”
“Well, no. I mean, not necessarily.” When Leah lifted a brow, Valerie sighed. “Shirley is a local barfly who also hangs out at Rusty’s Bucket. I don’t know her all that well, but from what I hear, she’s known around town for being fast, loose, and a bit wild in bed.”
“Who told you that?”
“Um, actually, Shirley did,” Valerie said with a smirk.
That made her friend chuckle. “No kidding? You mean that woman just came out and told you something like that about herself? That’s a bit strange, don’t you think?”
“Well, she was drinking at the time and was probably half-lit so maybe it’s not really true. You never know about drunk people.”
Leah bit her lip. “So do you think Logan is sleeping with her?”
Her heart lurched, igniting an ache deep in her chest. “The thought hadn’t really crossed my mind…until now. Thanks for that.”
“Sorry. I was just asking.”
“Well, just because they’re having a conversation doesn’t mean they’re having sex. Logan is the only person that Brett confides in. If talking equaled sexual relations, then my brother would be hiding out in that closet with him.”
“True.”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re just friends.”
Leah leaned back in her chair, grinning. “Logan and your brother?”
“Oh, don’t start that again. You know who I’m talking about.”
“Okay, okay. But I don’t think it’s likely that Logan and Shirley are just friends. At least not if she has it her way. I just saw her run her hands down his chest, and then she reached around and pinched his butt. I would say that’s not very friend-like.”
“Great,” Valerie said, peeking over at them again. Shirley had her hands curled around Logan’s bicep, and though his face was slightly flushed, he was smiling at her. Valerie sighed. “Well, if that’s the kind of woman he’s into, then I have no chance in hell with him anyway.”
“Why do you say that?”
“When I first started working here, I thought he only saw me as Brett’s annoying kid sister. Now I think he thinks of me as more the spoiled princess type. I mean, that is what he calls me. But either way, he doesn’t even see me as a grown woman.”
“So show him the grown-up side of you.”
“You’re assuming I have one,” Valerie said, grinning. “Look, I’m pretty confident in myself—in and out of the bedroom. But I’m not nearly as wild or sexually adventurous as Shirley seems to be. So if that’s what Logan’s looking for, then he’s probably better off with her.”
“I bet you’re wilder in bed that you think. In fact…” Leah reached for her purse and pulled out a pen. She grabbed a bar napkin from a small stack on the table and passed both items toward Valerie. “Let’s find out.”
“Um, find out what, exactly?”
“How crazy in bed you are.”
Valerie looked down at the pen and napkin. “I don’t get it.”
“We’re going to play a game. I want you to list all the sexual acts that you would never do.”
“What? No way!”
“Oh, come on. It’s just for fun. I’m curious to see if your list will be shorter than mine.”
“You did this already?”
Leah nodded. “I read about it in a magazine and thought it might be important to know these things up front about Sam. So we both did it. Our lists were pretty similar, but we surprised ourselves on a few things. You might do the same.”
Valerie smirked. “I bet having sex in a bakery wasn’t on your list, was it?”
A pale shade of pink invaded Leah’s cheeks once again, and she glanced over at Sam. “Damn it, Valerie. I’m never telling you anything else. Now start writing.”
She lifted the pen but stared down at the blank page in front of her. “This is stupid. I can’t think of anything to put down.”
“Come on, Val. The first few are the easiest ones.” She paused thoughtfully. “Okay, for instance, would you have sex in a public place?”
“Are you kidding? God no. I would die if I got arrested for indecent exposure. And chances are good that Brett would be the one to kill me…after the little rat bastard tells my mother what I did.”
“Okay, so there you go. I gave you the first one. I’m sure you can think of a few more sexual things you wouldn’t want to ever do.”
Valerie wrote public sex at the top of the page and almost instantly thought of two more things to add below it. She grinned. Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she thought. “I added bondage and dirty talking to the list.”
Leah’s eyebrow rose. “Really? But those seem so tame.”
“I know, but I’m not very good at talking dirty. At least not while having sex. Weird things pop out of my mouth, and then I feel stupid afterward. And the idea of someone tying me up and having that much control over me is terrifying.”
“Okay, what else then?”
“Well, there is another I can add. Promise you won’t laugh?” She waited for Leah to nod, wrote something down, and turned the napkin around for her to read it.
Leah bit her lip, but a giggle slipped past anyway. “Any particular reason you don’t like that one?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle too many times and don’t want to pull a Meg Ryan. Besides this is almost the same as having public sex, which I’ve already added to the list. I don’t see what would be so fun about getting fingerbanged in a movie theater anyway. I’m fine with having my orgasms in my bedroom, thank you very much.”
Leah laughed. “I should probably ask Sam if he wants to go to the movies when we leave here.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I bet he’d be all for it.”
“That’s because the two of you are perverts.”
Leah shoved the napkin back to her and motioned for her to keep writing.
After a few minutes of deep thinking, Valerie added spanking, indecent proposals, stripping, and anal sex to her list. Then she added glory holes and grossed herself out enough to put an end to the dumb game they were playing. “Okay, I’m done. All I’m doing is depressing myself more.”
“Aw, I’m sorry, Val. You know, maybe Logan just doesn’t know you’re interested in him.”
“Oh, he knows. Actually, I’m sure everyone here knows by now. I’ve been flaunting myself in front of him for days now, but he’s barely flinched.”
“Then he’s an idiot. But he’s a man so you can’t really blame him for that one.”
Sam’s head poked out from behind the beer light hanging over the pool table. “Hey! I heard that.”
Leah giggled. “Sorry, honey. I’ll whisper my insults next time.”
“That’s better,” he said with a wink.
God, they were too cute together. Why couldn’t she have that same kind of awesome relationship too? Valerie lowered her head. “The only thing I can come up with is that maybe Logan is worried about Brett finding out. I mean, I am being pretty obvious about my attraction to him.”
“Well, it can’t be too damn obvious. You’ve felt this way about Logan for years, and Brett still doesn’t have any idea.”
Valerie grinned. “Okay, that’s true.”
“Then again, your brother also thinks that every guy who says a simple hello to you is trying to get into your pants. So obviously, he sees only what he wants to see. Maybe the mere idea of you and Logan is out of the range of possibilities in his mind. Like he’s totally blind to it or something.”
“You think?”
“It’s possible. But that doesn’t mean he won’t eventually figure it out though. And knowing Brett, he’s going to go through the roof when he does.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s never going to happen anyway.” She glanced across the room at Logan, who was now sitting at the bar alone. “Okay, enough of this,” she said, crumpling up the napkin as she rose to her feet. “My shift is about to start, and I still have to get a couple of bottles from the storeroom before I can start working. If you’re still here in a little while, I’ll stop by and chat more with you guys.”
“We’ll be here for a bit. Actually, I’ll come up to the bar and grab our next round. That way you can throw some bottles around and wow me with your brilliance.”
Valerie sighed. “Well, at least I’m wowing somebody with something.”
Leah’s laugh echoed behind Valerie as she took off across the room. She stopped behind the bar long enough to see which liquors she needed to restock. James nodded at her, acknowledging her presence though he was busy helping a customer at the end of the bar. Logan, however, never looked up from his inventory list.
They were already starting to get busier as more people wandered through the door and took up residence at several tables. Nothing James couldn’t handle on his own. At least for now. Once the crowd multiplied and started to grow restless, it would take two bartenders to keep up with the demand.
After quickly checking her speed well, Valerie snatched up the keys to the storeroom and realized she was still holding the crumpled bar napkin in her hand. Stupid-ass list. She didn’t need to write down sexual things she was never going to do. That was about as pointless as writing out a grocery list of things you never planned to buy.
And she really didn’t need to come up with excuses as to why Logan might not be interested in her. He hadn’t so much as spoken a word to her although she’d already passed by him twice. He was doing a good job of demonstrating his disinterest all on his own. So much for getting him to notice her.
But she’d had enough of feeling sorry for herself. If Logan didn’t realize what a great thing he was missing out on, then screw him. There were plenty of men who would stumble over each other to get a chance to date her. She didn’t need Logan to make her feel like the sexy, capable woman she knew herself to be.
The noise level in the bar rose to a new level, and Valerie glanced up to see more people entering through the front door. Crap. She needed to hurry and get those bottles before James had a maddening rush on his hands.
But she didn’t want to give Logan the satisfaction of knowing that she’d seen him sitting there while actively ignoring her. So as she sashayed past him once again, she tossed the wadded-up napkin into the trash while in motion and kept her focus straight ahead.
He wasn’t the only one who could play that game.
* * *
Logan tried to keep his eyes to himself but failed miserably. As Valerie made her way past him, he glanced at her rear and watched it sway from side to side. She had a remarkable ass on her. One he would love to get his hands on.
But as she passed the trashcan, she tossed a wad of paper into it that bounced off the rim and landed directly on the floor behind her. Without bothering to stop to pick it up, she continued on her way through the swinging doors.
Oh, sure. I’ll get it for you. He rolled his eyes as he got up and rounded the counter. He knew he’d pissed her off by avoiding her for the past few days, but leaving something on the floor for him to pick up was just plain childish.
Logan lifted the balled-up napkin from the floor and started to throw it away, but a word at the top of the napkin caught his attention. Pubic? What the hell? He took a cursory glance around to make sure no one was paying attention and then peeled back an overlapping corner of the tiny napkin.
Pubic…six? What the fuck does that mean?
God, her handwriting was terrible. Calling it chicken scratch would definitely have been a compliment. And a lie. The symbols she had written looked more like ancient hieroglyphics from some lost civilization.
Though he knew it was wrong to read something that wasn’t his, curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn’t stop himself from unfolding it and straightening the napkin out so he could see the rest of the words.
But after reading the next few lines, which were written a little more clearly, he blinked. Dirty talk and bondage? Okay, so pubic six, dirty talk, and bondage? Wait, no. There was an L in the first word. And the more he studied the second one, he realized the middle letter was a weirdly shaped E.
Okay, so public sex, dirty talk, and bondage? Yeah, that made way more sense.
No, wait. Actually it didn’t. Logan turned the napkin back and forth in his hand. What the hell is this thing?
At first, he thought it might be a grocery list or something. But after reading a little farther down, he’d quickly realized this was not a list of things you could get at the local Food Mart. Unless, of course, it was run by a dominatrix.
It looked more like a list of…sexual fantasies?
Christ. Really, Valerie?
He should’ve expected her to pull something crazy like this. Not only had Valerie always been impulsive, but she was always coming up with little stunts to get him to sit up and pay attention. And sadly, most of them worked.
He had to give it to her though. This was definitely the most creative one she’d come up with. While public sex could suggest almost anything, there was no mistaking what the hell she wanted with bondage and dirty talk.
That delicious mouth of hers held a slew of unspoken promises for a man, but she wouldn’t need to say anything to turn him on. Hell, she could just show up naked. The thought alone made his dick harden against the seam of his jeans.
Logan ignored the ache in his pants and lifted the list to continue on. Maybe it was a foolish thing to do since she was obviously baiting him, but after getting a sneak peek of her naughty little list, he couldn’t stop himself from stepping into her trap. Like it or not, the only way that napkin was leaving his hand before he finished reading it was by amputation.
As his fingers moved down the list and found the next item, a ball of heat ignited in his groin. She wanted to have an orgasm in a movie theater and try anal sex? Fuck. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly through his open mouth in order to tamp down the flames licking at his balls. Damn it, this woman is going to be the death of me.
Moving on down the list, he saw a few that were more interesting than erotic. Electricity sizzled under his skin, and an aching tension settled into the base of his rock-hard cock. Without a doubt, he was going to be in pain the rest of the night, but if you asked him, it would be worth it.
Until his eyes fell on a word that had him holding his breath. Nuh-uh. No way. She’s got to be kidding if she thinks she’s going to participate in an orgy.
A vein throbbed in his temple, and a bead of sweat formed on his brow. He didn’t know what she was thinking by adding that one to the list, but it wasn’t going to happen. Not on his watch. Logan wasn’t normally such a prude, but he damn sure was starting to feel like one.
Then Logan read the last item on the list and braced himself against the counter while sucking in a gasping breath. Okay, now she was fucking delusional. Because if she thought for one second that he would allow her to go to a glory hole, then she had another think coming.
At the thought, fire lit through his veins, and a raging inferno coursed through him that had absolutely nothing to do with his libido. If Valerie wanted a reaction from him, then that was exactly what he would give her.
Logan stormed in the direction of the back room to give her the verbal spanking of her life…though he doubted it was what she had in mind when she added that one to her list.
The storeroom door was wide open so he stepped just inside and glanced around. Valerie stood facing the wall in the back of the room with that fine ass of hers pointed in the direction of the door. As if she’d fucking planned it.
Rock music coursed in the background as he waited for her to turn around and say something, anything. But instead, she lifted herself up on her tiptoes, her short dress rising in the back as she reached for a bottle of premium whiskey on the top shelf. Pissed that she was ignoring his presence, Logan slammed the metal storeroom door shut.
She startled and fumbled the bottle in her hand before dropping it to the floor. A crash sounded, and glass shattered, scattering across the tile. “Damn it, Logan! What the hell did you do that for? You scared the shit out of me.”
“Good.”
Valerie cocked her head and gazed at him warily. “What’s wrong?”
So that’s the way she wanted to play this? Really? “I know what you did,” he said, slowly stalking toward her.
For a moment, she stilled and stared at him in silence. Then she said, “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
But her hesitant smile and the panic flashing in her eyes spoke volumes. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she knew exactly what he was talking about. And sadly, she didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed or remotely embarrassed by any of it.
“Goddamn it. Don’t play dumb. You know what I’m referring to.”
Not bothering to deny it, Valerie offered him an exaggerated eye roll. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is—”
He stopped in front of her. “You. Right now my problem is you.”
She shrugged as if she didn’t give a shit. “So what else is new? But if you’ll excuse me, I have a mess to clean up now.” She took a step away from him and bent down to assess the damage as her dress tightened across her rear end.
Logan’s gaze slid over her ass cheeks, and his palm twitched. “You might want to think twice about turning your backside to me.”
She glanced back at him. “Are you threatening me?”
“You’re damn straight I am. I have a good mind to bend you over my knee right now. Might be wise for you not to tempt me.”
With narrowed eyes, Valerie rose to her full height and shifted her body to face him directly. Then she did something he couldn’t believe. She gave him a one-finger salute. “That’s what I think about your threat.”
Losing the last thread on his control, Logan grabbed her by the arms and pulled her toward him. So close he could smell the sugared vanilla perfume wafting from the erratic pulse in her neck.
Her eyes widened. “W-what are you doing?”
His fingers threaded into her silky hair, tilting her face up to his. “Making damn sure you don’t wake up next to someone whose name you don’t remember.”
Then his mouth was on hers.